Current Art Shows

Fuzzy Was He? Once upon a time, before psychedelic Sesame Street of the Seventies turned into Elmo Street (the fifteen-second-skit show of the Nineties), there were Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird. Perhaps red furball Elmo was nice at first, but he pushed old favorites into the Dumpster. (Whatever happened to Harry and Prairie Dawn?) He also exhibited an unforgivable lack of depth and funk. So Miami artist Arlene Berrie takes Elmo and makes him edgy. Enjoyable are the buttery quality of Berrie's canvases and her impish contemporary approach in Elmo, I Don't Want to Be a Duck and Elmo, I Don't Want to Be a Chicken. She deconstructs Elmo and makes him cool and fit for smart and imaginative children. -- Alfredo Triff Through August 13. Liquid Blue Gallery, 3438 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-571-9123, www.liquidbluegallery.com.

Laws of Nature: Are we searching for the fountain of youth? Why is everyone photographing young people, whether they're rich, middle class, poor, hanging out having fun, spacing out, or just posing? We see them everywhere. Is this a fad? If Kristine Potter's show feels slightly different, it's because her adolescent subjects are imbued with a certain halo of inscrutability. Her children of nature look sophisticatedly expressive, as though the camera has captured them in the midst of a portentous self-defining moment. By the way, all of these kids are white (though there's nothing wrong with that). Of course, the natural world plays a big part in Potter's photos -- depicting the subject's external environment as well as reflecting his or her internal elements. -- Alfredo Triff Through August 13. Rocket Projects, 3440 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-576-6082, www.rocket-projects.com.

Monstrously Tranquil: Christian Curiel's work is influenced by Surrealism, B movies, lowbrow art, and prepubescent deformity in the style of Japanese master Tohl Narita. Now, in the capacity of curator, the Yale graduate and CINTAS fellow assembles some of his friends for "Monstrously Tranquil," an exhibit that seems to subdue the grotesque to accentuate the ominous, but an overall theme is not apparent. There are some interesting pieces though, such as Kristine Potter's enigmatic photograph of a young woman in the woods -- standing on her tiptoes and wearing a stringent expression -- and Adrian Wong's arcane sculpture of two green rabbits facing each other inside a boat, spewing tons of whitish slime, surrounded by plastic shark fins on the floor. -- Alfredo Triff Through August 13. Ingalls and Associates,125 NW 23rd St., Miami; 305-573-6263, www.ingallsassociates.com.

For complete up-to-date South Florida art listings, click on Culture on the navigation bar to the left, scroll down to the Listings Search and "Category" pulldown, then select "Art Galleries" or "Museums."